I hate you
Ruby's last words continued to spiral through Aqua's head even after she had passed out; they didn't leave any space for other thoughts as they ricocheted back and forth in his skull, turning louder with each echo. "Pathetic." He whispered before tears shot into his eyes. Darkness swallowed his entire vision as he pressed his face into Ruby's nape. He tried to hold it down, but failed miserably at it, drenching Ruby's shirt in his salty tears as the room was filled by sobs.
I can't save anybody. I should protect Kana. But instead, I condemn her. All because I am too weak. How does she manage to do it?
Kana...
How can she stay strong all the time? I can't take this anymore. Everyone around me is always in danger. And nothing I do ever changes it. Is this the real reason for my second life? Torturing me by letting fate take everything from me?
No, it is not. It is my own fault. My own decisions brought this upon me. Fate doesn't exist. I might be pathetic– But as long as there are people who need me. As long as my two legs carry me. I just can't stop running.
Aqua was lost so deep within his thoughts that he only noticed the doorbell ringing after a good minute of it. His legs almost crumpled beneath his weight as he arose. He gently pulled Ruby up alongside him and carried her over to the bed in the room. He kissed her forehead one last time before he pulled the blanket over her small body, leaving the dimly lit room behind him. The continuous ringing didn't stop for even a moment as he made his way down the stairs, this time slower though. Each step was filled with dread, like he didn't belong here. He wasn't angry or sad anymore; he just was.
The bright sun blinded him momentarily as he opened the front door. He was ready to tell off whoever was disrupting him in such a moment, yet he didn't expect to see what he saw. Before him was the only thing that shone brighter than the very sun, Ruby, smiling. She was dressed in her typical school attire, a big smile plastered across her face. Aqua's confused expression was once again replaced by the most mundane expression known to man. He would've probably won every poker matchup imaginable with that kind of expression.
"What are you doing here, Akane?" he groaned out quietly.
Akane, who was standing about 2 meters in front of Aqua, looked up and down at herself as she struck various poses. "Isn't this outfit totally awesome? I even managed to fool you for a second there." Akane's smile fell slightly, yet her expression remained bright and cheerful.
She walked up closer to Aqua and reached into his pocket, pulling out his keys. Aqua followed her movements with his eyes, taking a good look at his keys for the first time today. There were his usual keys, but there was also a keychain, a keychain he had never before seen. It was a green cartoonish owl-like creature. Akane swiftly pulled it off the set of keys and began to talk into it. With only a few seconds delay and almost no static noise, her own voice came out of her phone.
"I'm sorry, but I just had to get you back," she said while she reached her hand out. She smiled at Aqua while she held his set of keys out for him to take them back. "That's why I'm here. I heard everything, I know it was wrong of me to do this. But it was necessary. Please, let's do this together, you and Kana don't stand a chance if you show up without Ruby, and you know it."
Aqua roughly grabbed the set of keys out of Akane's hands before shoving them back into his pocket. "So you heard all of it..." Aqua looked down at the floor, unable to look into Akane's eyes.
"Not everything. I mean, I heard the call with Kamiki, but after that I didn't have any time to continue listening," Akane responded without missing a beat.
"Come on, we have no time to lose." She took the initiative, stepping a few steps away and signaling for Aqua to do the same. Yet, he only remained frozen in the door frame.
"I know spying on you was wrong, and if you're mad at me it's totally fine. But it's important that you come with me," Akane said.
Aqua stood on the doorsteps for a few more moments, unmoving as the cold air blew through his hair.
"Are you really sure about this? You cou-" Akane interrupted his words before he could finish, "Yes, I am, you might feel alone for some reason, but I'm with you. Now... Do you want to save Kana or not? Because if you want to save her you should really pick up the pace."
She started to walk again without looking back. After a few steps, she could hear how the door fell closed, and a moment later, how footsteps followed after her.
26th of December, 2:45 pm, streets of Tokyo
"Let's hurry up a bit, Akane. His address is still a good distance away."
Aqua held Ruby's cracked phone up while increasing his pace; of course, he still made sure Akane could keep up with him. They were crossing through Shibuya, the buildings around them turned gradually taller, and the people more and more.
"We still have 45 minutes, that's more than enough. Instead we should focus on what we're going to do once we're there." Akane picked up her pace. "You are concerned because of Kana, and so am I. But we can't cloud our judgement because of that."
Aqua slowed down again. "You're right."
He stopped walking completely while his gaze turned from what lay ahead to Akane, who was standing next to him. "So, did you also think about a plan?"
Akane's eyes met Aqua's gaze for a single moment before she looked down. "I have, but you'll have to trust me for it to work." She nervously looked around, checking if anybody was looking at them.
After she made sure that nobody was paying attention to them, she quickly pulled out a knife she had hidden on her person the entire time and handed it over to Aqua. "I will cause a distraction; it will be enough of an opening for you to get to him."
Akane took a few steps before coming to another halt when she couldn't hear Aqua's steps following behind.
"What kind of distraction?" Suspicion flickered in Aqua's eyes. "You are talking about trust, but you are not going to tell me the entire plan?"
"Yes I do, Aqua," she said, "You need to trust me without knowing every detail for once. You'd understand, I'm sure of it."
The clock jumps from 2:50 pm to 2:511 pm in the exact second where he pulled out Ruby's phone again. "Alright… But if you… Just stay safe, damn it.
I just hope she is sure about it. Please don't be something insane. I can't lose you either, Akane.
...
In the end, they managed to get to the foot of Kamiki's penthouse after another 30 minutes of a mixture of speed walking and jogging.
"Wait, Akane," Aqua said while standing, leaning against the wall of the building, gasping for air. "We still have 10 minutes, we should play this smart, we need to catch our breath for a bit before we go in."
26th of December, same time, House of Gotanda Haishi
The room was dark and utterly silent; not a single sound of the surrounding world pierced through the walls of the apartment.
"...huh..."
My head, what... What's the time? Why do I feel so... weird? I was just talking to Aqua... Where is he? What were we talking about again?
"...Aqua...?"
...
"...Aqua....?"
Ruby tried to call out, but her weak voice was barely enough for a whisper. After she didn't get a response for any of her calls, she tried to sit up straight, her body barely listening to her. She finally managed to sit up straight and look through the room. Weak memories of what occurred earlier flood back into her mind.
Where are you, Aqua… There was something important. But what was it? Did I just fall asleep?
No...
I remember what happened. I didn't fall asleep. He drugged me. Made it so I can't help.
But why? Was I really just in your way? How could you do that to me? I thought we were a team.
She blinked a few times when she felt tears form in her eyes.
Isn't this our revenge? Why do you always have to do everything on your own… Why can't you ever trust me to carry this burden with you? I am not the little girl who needs protection anymore. Are you too blind to see?
Ruby tried to climb out of her bed, but as soon as she got out, her legs gave out underneath her weight, which sent her to meet the ground. The rough impact made her yelp in pain. But her determination was fierce.
I won't forgive you, Aqua. For doing this to Kana because of me. You won't treat her like that any longer. Not this time...
Ruby finally managed to get up from the hard floor. She carefully took one step after the other, out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door.
26th of December, 3:20 pm, Streets of Tokyo
"We should head in now. Let's not risk Kana being hurt because we waited for too long," Aqua said while he pushed himself off the wall of Kamiki's complex.
The elevator ride was silent. Neither Akane nor Aqua said a word; the dread grew inside both of them for each floor they passed.
This is it. After all these years, it ends right here and now.
I thought I'd feel something, hatred... or maybe doubt. Maybe even anticipation. But right now?
Nothing.
Or maybe something, I don't really know.
Focus… Kana's right there. She is close. I should not think about what comes after… Not when after is not even certain yet.
If Kamiki hurt her… No. That is wrong; it would be blaming him for my mistake.
She got dragged into this Idol industry… Into Ruby's environment, because of me. Because I used her feelings to manipulate her… I knew what I was doing.
What do I even say to him? Try reasoning? No, it would be pointless anyway; he is too far gone. Whatever I would try to say, I could never break through his years of delusions.
Stay sharp, don't lose focus. I will go through it one more time.
Priority one: keep up the act, Akane is Ruby now. If he realizes the truth, it is over.
Priority two: watch out for traps. This is his ground, I can't let down my guard, not even for a second.
Priority three: get Kana to safety, no matter what the cost.
If she dies... she'd probably die thinking I hated her. And the worst part is, I couldn't even be mad at her for thinking it.
A loud *ding* sound from the elevator snapped Aqua out of his thoughts; both he and Akane, who still looked just like his sister, stepped out of the elevator, the doors closing behind them. The outdoor walkway they were in looked exactly like the typical apartment complex walkway. To their left was a view of downtown Tokyo, and to their right was the set of doors leading into the apartments. The only difference was that it looked far more luxurious, and instead of many doors leading to different apartments, it was just a single door in the middle of the hallway. It was exactly 3:27 when they left the elevator. The sun had already begun to fall again, but they made it in time; that was everything that counted.
Both looked at the other one last time and silently nodded. Then Aqua rang the doorbell.